LinkedIn Headline: The Complete Guide [+13 examples] | Skylead

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March 11, 2024

This article is written by Kristina, the Head of Marketing with 8 years of experience. She's known for her hands-on content with actionable data, innovative strategies, and inspirational leadership.

Attention is the real capital in this day and age. Being noticed in a sea of information in a distracted world is considered to be a privilege. To stand out, you must take what you have to the next level. The same rules apply to your LinkedIn headline.

However, figuring out a LinkedIn headline can feel like navigating a maze for many folks, and let's be real, some platform members aren't even sure what it is or where to find it on their profile.

That's why we're here to break it down for you in plain language and give you some practical suggestions and LinkedIn headline examples that work from our own experience.

These tips have helped our sales team stand out on LinkedIn, improve rankings and visibility in LinkedIn search results, and ultimately gain more credibility and more quality leads for Skylead.

Let’s check it out how it’s done!

What is a LinkedIn headline?

A LinkedIn headline is the text below your name in your profile's introduction. It's a vital section of your profile because it impacts your ranking in LinkedIn searches and plays a crucial part in forming the first impression. When well-written, a LinkedIn headline is a prime eye-catcher in search results.

This is your LinkedIn headline.

How to edit a LinkedIn headline

You can edit your LinkedIn headline as many times as you want, although it is recommended to keep some consistency and not to change it too often.

The maximum length of your LinkedIn headline is 220 characters.

Edit your LinkedIn headline by clicking on the Pen icon right here.

Then, scroll down to the LinkedIn headline section.

As you may see, you can insert it manually, or use LinkedIn’s AI assistant to suggest LinkedIn headlines for you. This feature is available only for paid LinkedIn plans.

If you click on the Write with AI option, LinkedIn will suggest a LinkedIn headline for you based on the information on your LinkedIn profile.

You can ask it to generate a LinkedIn headline for you as many times as you want, or just click Revert to go back to the one you had before.

Click Save to save the changes to your LinkedIn profile.

Generally, we suggest using ChatGPT for sales to speed up certain processes. You can also independently brainstorm your LinkedIn headline in Chat GPT from LinkedIn’s AI assistant. In this blog, we gave you 13 LinkedIn headline examples considered to be a good practice. Use them to get inspired by them or as a prompt in Chat GPT to generate variations. It’s up to you!

What to put in a LinkedIn headline

The number one rule is not to make your LinkedIn headline misleading.

Rule number two is that there is no rule number two.

As long as your LinkedIn headline is informative, relevant, and catchy, you are on the right track. Yes, creativity is highly appreciated even on LinkedIn. Stay within the professional frames and you can still play with your LinkedIn headline as much as you want.

Easier said than done (we agree), but your LinkedIn headline should summarize your skills, ambitions, and experiences within the 220-character limit. As this is not as simple as it sounds, most LinkedIn members decide to leave their current job title and forget about it. Big mistake.

It is exactly your LinkedIn headline that sets you apart in the “sea of the same”. It is the first thing your prospects read when they visit your LinkedIn profile and it is one of the things that keeps them scrolling to get a deeper insight into your professional achievements through LinkedIn summary and other LinkedIn sections.

Formulas to write an effective LinkedIn profile

Here are 2 formulas to write an effective LinkedIn profile.

The first one is to imagine I know nothing about your industry and, with that in mind, to explain to me, in one simple sentence, what you do.

The second one is to imagine you have to create a billboard advertising yourself and think of a catchy slogan that would sell you the best.

If this doesn’t help you come up with an appealing LinkedIn headline, try using one of the following formulas where

X represents your ideal prospect;
Y represents your ideal outcome;
Z represents the service you offer.

If these still seem too abstract to you, don’t worry, we’ve listed 13 real-life LinkedIn headline examples to illustrate what an effective headline is and to help you get inspired for yours.

Common mistakes in LinkedIn headlines

Using codes or professional jargon that only people from your industry know such as “BDR”, “SDR”, “AE”, etc.
Showing off by using words such as “expert”, “top-performing”, “superior”, “best” or mentioning any success without offering valid arguments that support it.
Not using keywords that are relevant to your potential prospects. When writing your LinkedIn headline keep in mind that the most commonly used filter on LinkedIn is the “keyword” one. Make sure you show up in your prospect or recruiter’s search result.
Writing a headline that reflects your former professional engagements that are not relevant to your current or future professional aspirations.
Not including your unique selling point. Without it, you are just one more professional in a sea of others.
Make your LinkedIn headline about how you can help others instead of how “awesome” you are.

The 6 common mistakes when writing a LinkedIn headline

On the other hand, here are the top 6 most common mistakes when writing a LinkedIn headline.

Using codes or professional jargon that only people from your industry know such as “BDR”, “SDR”, “AE”, etc.
Showing off by using words such as “expert”, “top-performing”, “superior”, “best” or mentioning any success without offering valid arguments that support it.
Not using keywords that are relevant to your potential prospects. When writing your LinkedIn headline keep in mind that the most commonly used filter on LinkedIn is the “keyword” one. Make sure you show up in your prospect or recruiter’s search results.
Writing a headline that reflects your former professional engagements that are not relevant to your current or future professional aspirations.
Not including your unique selling point. Without it, you are just one more professional in a sea of others.
Making your LinkedIn headline about how “awesome” you are instead of how you can help others succeed.

Top 13 LinkedIn headline examples [and why they work]

After all, there is no explicit rule for what you should put in your LinkedIn headline.

The examples below show what works in practice.

We’ve included the “why it works” section to understand why, from our experience, these LinkedIn headline examples are effective, and to inspire you to create yours accordingly.